Flying Sword
by carabc03
Summary: Arthur was bound to notice at some point, the convenient falling tree branches and the not-so-subtle cases when a sword was pulled from enemy hands. Or, if he somehow managed to miss all this, maybe the way Merlin's eyes randomly turned gold clued him in. In short, Merlin uses his magic to save the prince, and Arthur is angry- only not for the reason Merlin thinks.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur's sword clashes with his enemy's and sweat pours down his face, mixing with the blood on his cheek from an earlier injury. He started off the battle strong, but has already fought six opponents, and the adrenaline is wearing off. His fighting gets less strategic and more desperate as the exhaustion weighs down his movements.

The enemy, a knight from Cedric's kingdom, seems to notice the prince's weakening state and smiles gleefully. The offending attacks become more brutal as Arthur's opponent realizes his advantage, and suddenly Arthur is on the ground. He sees nothing but a deadly sharp sword swinging down towards him, and he has no way to stop it. Arthur winces, bracing himself for his seemingly inevitable death- when the weapon flies out of the opposing knight's hands.

Arthur is no genius, but he is aware of the existence of gravity, and according to that law, the way the sword had fallen should not have been possible. Once he realizes this, anger floods through him, and he turns to his right for a split second- just in time to see Merlin.

Merlin, who has been hiding behind the trees like a girl.

Merlin, who has been silently watching, too scared and untrained to fight.

Merlin, whose eyes are currently burning gold.

By the time Arthur registers all this, his servant's eyes have already faded back to blue, and the prince doesn't have time to think about it anymore. He jumps back to his feet, grabbing his sword before the enemy knight has a chance to recover his own, and swiftly shoves the weapon into his chest. It's a quick death, almost surgical in its efficiency, and it's a procedure that Arthur has performed many times before. Still, he can't help the pang of regret that he feels upon pulling the bloody sword out of the dying man's chest. He feels it every time. It's gotten easier over the years, but it never entirely goes away.

Casting these thoughts from his mind, Arthur looks around, muscles tense, ready to fight off any more of Cedric's knights that might remain. Seeing none, he turns back so that his furious gaze lands on Merlin.

Merlin is staring at the battlefield, covered in blood and corpses, and doesn't notice Arthur's glare until the prince is walking towards him. A beam spreads across the servant's face as he prepares to congratulate Arthur on the victory, but it quickly fades when he sees the blonde's murderous expression. Arthur watches as Merlin's expression flashes from confusion to utter terror when he realizes why the prince might be so angry.

"Did you see-"

"Yes," Arthur says shortly, preparing to shout at his servant, but Merlin talks first.

"Arthur, I-" he begins, before cutting himself off with a pitiful choking sound. He sniffs, looking at the ground, before fixing his master with a pleading expression. "Could you… will you just behead me? Please?"

Arthur's fury quickly melts to horror. " _What?!_ "

Merlin misunderstands the prince's tone and flinches looking away. "I-I know you don't owe me anything and I know I lied to you and _I'm sorry_ but could you please just behead me? I'm- I don't want to burn. I know sorcerers are supposed to be executed on a pyre, but I can't, please don't make me, Arthur, please. You owe me nothing, and I know that you must hate me, but please, don't let me burn." Merlin's face is full of more terror than Arthur has ever seen in his life, and he has to swallow down bile at the thought that Merlin actually thinks Arthur would do that to him.

"Merlin, I'm not going to burn you or behead you," Arthur hisses, anger seeping into his tone. It's directed more at himself than Merlin, but the raven-haired boy still flinches before the words sink in.

"You're- what?" Merlin stammers, hesitant hope spreading across his features before being quickly replaced by fear as his mind supplies him with even worse tortures that Arthur might be envisioning for him as punishment.

"I'm not going to do anything to you!" The prince snaps.

"But… why were you so angry?" Merlin asks, looking more confused than afraid now.

"Because you're so _obvious_ about it! I've known about your magic for months, and it's a wonder no one else does. You're so careless with your spells, it's a wonder you're not dead already. Have you no sense of self preservation?" Arthur rants, angry that his servant uses his magic in such a public manner. "Honestly, any person with half a mind would have realized that the way you made that sword fly my opponent's hand wasn't natural! You must have some sort of a death wish."

Merlin just stares at Arthur, mouth agape. "But- I- you- _what?_ "

Arthur rolls his eyes. "How articulate, Merlin."

Merlin still looks confused, and there's a vague hint of fear twisting his features, but he still manages to squeak out an indignant, "prat."

"Idiot." Arthur retorts.

"Clotpole." Merlin snaps back with growing confidence.

"Fool."

"Bone idled toad."

" _What?_ "

Merlin just laughs, and despite Arthur's struggle to look offended, he can't keep a smile from spreading across his face. Merlin responds with one of his famous grins, and Arthur realizes happily that despite Merlin's lingering fear of execution and Arthur's slight wariness of magic, they're going to be just fine.


	2. Chapter 2

"Arthur?" Merlin's cautious voice breaks through the silence the two men had been riding in, and Arthur sighs.

"Yes?" he responds, making sure to put the proper amount of exasperation in his voice.

"How long have you known? About… my magic?"

"A while," the prince says carefully. "There was no exact moment of realization; I always sort of knew something was different about you. I think I figured out what it was when I noticed you had somehow gotten my freezing bath water to boil in the time it took me to pick up a pillow to throw at you."

Merlin snorts, but he still seems a bit nervous. "You picked the pillow up all by yourself?"

"Shut up," Arthur snaps, hiding his smile. "I do have one question, though. Why would you practice magic in _Camelot,_ of all places?"

Merlin looks a bit surprised. "Oh, I forgot to tell you; I was born with magic. It would probably kill me if I stopped using it."

" _What?_ " Arthur demands, stopping his horse. "That's not possible!"  
The servant shrugs. "Giaus didn't think so, either. Until he met me."

"Giaus knows about your magic?"

Merlin's eyes widen. "Oops."

"How you managed to keep this a secret from everyone else all these years, I'll never know," Arthur says, shaking his head. "Still, if you were born with magic, why come here?"

"My mother sent me. She knows Giaus, and thought he could help me learn to control it." Merlin smiles sheepishly. "Although, I suppose that wasn't the best way to introduce myself."

Arthur blanches. "You mean to tell me that upon first meeting Giaus, you told him that you had magic? Were you _trying_ to get executed?"

"No! No," Merlin denies indignantly. "When I first walked into Giaus's chambers, he was up on a ledge. And I suppose I may have startled him a bit. He fell backwards, and I knew he would die so I used my magic to drag a mattress over to cushion his fall."

"So you saved his life?" Arthur asks incredulously.

"I guess." Merlin shrugs.

"What did he do?"

"Well, he demanded to know where I learned my magic, and how I'd incanted a spell so quickly. I told him I'd never practiced magic, and he accused me of lying. He got the full story eventually, though."

"Why didn't you tell him after he asked? The only reason you were sent to him was so that he could help you with your magic, so why bother trying to keep it from him?" Arthur asks.

"To be fair, I _had_ just watched someone be beheaded for sorcery."

"You saw an execution on your first day in Camelot?" Arthur demands, frowning.

"Wonderful first impression, as you can imagine," Merlin responds drily.

"Huh," Arthur says. "And you still used magic in front of a stranger."

"I had to! He would've died!" Merlin points out.

"And if he lived, for all you knew, _you_ would've," Arthur responds thoughtfully. "Merlin, I can't tell if you're insanely selfless or just an idiot."

Merlin grins. "I think I'm probably just an idiot."

Arthur laughs. "So, what about after that? I know you saved my life with the witch, and then again with the poison. Is there anything I don't know about?"

"Oh, I've saved your life…" he breaks off, counting on his fingers before apparently running out of fingers to count. He starts muttering to himself, trying to calculate the exact number, before eventually giving up with a, "too many times to count."

Arthur stares. "No, way."

"Well, let's see. There was Valiant-"

Arthur scoffs. "You didn't save me from Valiant. I saved myself."  
Merlin rolls his eyes. "Please. Do you think the snakes just magically popped out in clear view of the whole kingdom before he could kill you with them?"

Arthur falters. "I suppose that was a bit... lucky…"

"And then there was the Afanc. You know, the thing poisoning the water?"

"I _knew_ the fire shouldn't have blown up like that naturally!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out then," Merlin reflects with a snort. "Anyway, next came the poison-"  
"It was you," Arthur interrupts.

"What?" Merlin asks. "What was me? I mean, it probably was me, but what did I do?"

"The light in the cave!" Arthur responds. "But how? Weren't you dying? You were unconscious in Gaius's chambers, how could you have possibly created the light?"

Merlin shrugs. "Yeah, I did that while I was unconscious." Then he laughs. "Gaius told me that he had a hard time explaining to Gwen while I was chanting in a foreign language in my sleep."

"I bet," Arthur grinned. "What next?"

"Well, I killed the griffin."

"What are you talking about? That was Lancelot."

"Well, he did part of it. But his he wouldn't have been able to do any damage and he would've been killed if I hadn't enchanted his spear."

"That… actually explains a lot, now that I think about it," Arthur considers. "But how did he not notice that you had cast a spell on the spear?"

Merlin winces. "Well… he sort of did notice. That's why he rejected knighthood; because he believed that he couldn't take credit for killing the griffin when it had really been me. I, of course, told him that was rubbish, but he wouldn't listen."

"What happened after that?"

"Morgana fell ill."

Arthur's face darkens slightly at the mention of his traitorous sister, but he motions for Merlin to continue anyway.

"That was when she lost consciousness for several days, and Edwin came with what he claimed to be a cure."

Arthur frowns. "What do you mean, 'claimed?' It did cure her, didn't it?"

"Not exactly," Merlin responds. "You see, he cured her by taking out the magical beetle that he had used to make her ill in the first place."

"Edwin was the one that made her sick?" Arthur demands.

Merlin nods. "And then he made Uther sick. The beetle was going to kill your father, but I… I stopped Edwin."

"What do you mean, 'stopped?' Are you okay?" Arthur asks, noticing Merlin's hesitation. "What happened, exactly?"

"He used his magic to make an axe fly towards me, and instinctively I used mine to make it fly back and… kill him. He was the first person I ever killed."

"You did what you had to do," Arthur says firmly, brooking no room for argument.

"I know," Merlin responds. "I just… wish I hadn't had to."

Arthur doesn't know what to say to that. "I'm sorry," he tries, and his servant nods in acknowledgement.

"And then Gaius healed my father?" Arthur moves on quickly.

"Um," Merlin winces. "I did that. With magic."

"You healed Uther Pendragon," Arthur says flatly, "with magic."

"I couldn't exactly let him die!" Merlin points out defensively, mistaking Arthur's dull tone for anger. "I had no other choice."

"I'm not _angry,_ you idiot," Arthur tells him fondly. "I'm grateful."

Merlin blinks. "Oh."

"You could have left him to die. In fact, it probably would have been beneficial to you if you did. But you chose to save him, knowing full well that he would kill you for it had he been aware," Arthur explains.

"Oh," Merlin repeats, lost for words. "Well. In that case, I suppose you're welcome."

Arthur clears his throat. "What came next?"

"After that-" he breaks off, then grins evilly, and Arthur knows instantly that he won't be enjoying the next story. "After that came Sofia."

"Wasn't she the one I tried to elope with?" Arthur asks, trying not to show his embarrassment.

"Not quite," Merlin responds, his previously mischievous face darkening. "She actually enchanted you. She and her father Aulfric had been planning to kill you as a sacrifice to gain entry to Avalon."

"And you stopped them? Why don't I remember anything?"

"Um, that would be because I arrived a little late in the whole 'preventing Arthur's death' thing."

Arthur glares.

"Don't give me that look! I still saved you, didn't I?" Merlin says defensively.

"Why were you late?"

"I'll tell you if you stop interrupting," Merlin grumbles. "So, after I figured out that they were enchanting you, I came to tell you. Unfortunately, Sofia and Aulfric were with you. I told you that Aulfric's eyes were red, and that it wasn't natural, but you were too far gone. Sofia kept telling you things like I was just a servant and I shouldn't be speaking to you that way, and that you two were in love and I was just trying to keep you apart."

"And I believed her?" Arthur asks.

"You were under a spell. It wasn't your fault," Merlin tells him seriously. "Anway, your eyes started glowing red, too. Then Aulfric used his magical staff to blast me against a wall, and I lost consciousness. Then when I woke up, you were all gone."

"He just left you there? You're lucky he didn't finish you off," Arthur comments.

"To be fair, if I didn't have my magic it would have killed me, so he probably thought I was dead. So when I regained consciousness, Gaius was there, and he explained to me that you were all at the Lake of Avalon." Merlin laughs softly. "It was a bit hard convincing him to let me run through the forest to defeat some powerful magical creatures after almost dying, although I told him I was fine. Then I tried to exit through a closet."

"He let you go in that condition?" Arthur asks dubiously, not as amused as his servant.

Merlin winces. "Not really. He asked me if the buzzing in my ears had stopped and if I could stand properly. I told him I could, and he didn't believe me in the slightest. Still, he knew I had to go, so he eventually let me, and I went to the lake of Avalon- that's where they were going to sacrifice you, by the way- and managed to use Aulfric's staff to kill both of them. Unfortunately, they had already put you underwater, so I had to swim around until I found you and pulled you up."

"Is that why I don't remember anything? Because I was underwater for so long?" Arthur asked.

Merlin shrugged. "That could have contributed to it, but I think it was mostly because of the enchantment."

"Thanks for saving me," Arthur says after a brief moment of silence.

Merlin gives him a look of confusion. "What, did you think I would just leave you to drown?"

Arthur shrugs. "I guess not, but like you said, you could barely stand and you were hearing a buzzing noise, but you still managed to run through the forest, kill two sorcerers, and pull me out of the water."

Merlin grins. "It's all part of the job. Anyway, after the Sidhe-"

"What in God's name is a Sidhe?" Arthur interrupts.

"That's what Sofia and Aulfric were. Like I was saying, after them came the whole thing with Mordred, the druid boy who we rescued. I didn't really save you then, although I did try."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asks. "If I remember correctly, you almost didn't come in time."

"Yeah. That's the thing, I thought that if I didn't come and I let Mordred be captured, that _would_ save you," Merlin explains, only adding to Arthur's confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I was told that Mordred would kill you one day, and that the only way to save you would be to let him die. It was a difficult choice, but I chose you. For a while, anyway. But Mordred was screaming out to me, and he was desperate and terrified. And, really, he was just a kid. So I went and saved him. I hope it was the right thing to do, but I still can't be sure," Merlin says regretfully.

""What? Who told you that? And why would you listen to someone who was saying that you needed to kill a child? And how was he screaming? He didn't say anything to me that whole time, except for his name after I returned him to the Druids."

"Druids can communicate telepathically. And the one who told me that had helped me handle many situations before that. He was the one who told me how to defeat the Afanc, and the one who warned me about Morgana in my first year there. He also told me my destiny, and how you were a part of it."

"That doesn't answer my question. Who was it?" Arthur pushes.

Merlin winces. "Don't get angry, but… it was the Great Dragon."

"What?!" Arthur roars, pulling his sword out of its sheath instinctively. "You spoke with that creature?"

Merlin flinches away from the furious prince, who calms slightly and puts away his weapon upon seeing the fear on his servant's face.

"Explain," he demands through gritted teeth.

"Um," Merlin begins eloquently, "when I first came to Camelot, Gaius told me of how the dragons were all killed except for that one, who was chained beneath the castle. For a few nights, I heard someone calling my name, but I didn't know who. Eventually I realized it seemed to be coming from below, so I distracted the guard and went down a hidden set of stairs that led to a cave beneath the castle. A dragon- the Great Dragon- flew down and told me that I had a great destiny ahead of me. He told me that my duty was to protect you, and that you were the Once and Future King. I came to him whenever I needed magical help for a while."

Arthur nods, taking all of this in. "But you had nothing to do with his escape and had no idea he planned to kill the citizens of Camelot?"

Merlin turns to Arthur with pained eyes. "It is true that I had not known what he would do, but I did release him." as he says this, he unconsciously backs away from his master. "I had no choice."

"Of course you had a choice!" Arthur shouts angrily.

"I didn't. He made me swear on my mother's life that I would release him. And I only did it because he knew how to save Camelot when Morgause's army attacked. He refused to answer unless I promised to free him."

"So you doomed Camelot in order to save it," Arthur growls.

"I had to! If I hadn't, Camelot would have been doomed many years ago. You and all your people would be dead. And I swear to you that I didn't know what Kilgharrah would do."

Arthur closes his eyes upon hearing the dragon's name, but nods. "It was a difficult situation," he allows, "and you did what you thought was right. I cannot fault you for that."

"Thank you, sire," and for once, the title is used with genuine respect.

"What came after Mordred?" Arthur asks, knowing he will hear more about the dragon later in the story.

"Then came the dark knight," Merlin says.

"I was meant to fight him, but my father drugged me and took my place," Arthur remembers bitterly.

"Yes, but he was right. You would have died if you had fought him," Merlin points out.

"You can't know that! My father was able to beat him, wasn't he?" Arthur demands.

"Only because I gave him the sword to do it," Merlin responds. "You see, the dark knight was a wraith. That means he was undead, and he wouldn't rest until he did what he had been resurrected to do: kill Uther. There was no way to kill him with mortal weapons, so I went to Kilgharrah and begged for a way to save you. He said that he would make me a sword that could kill the dead as long as I promised him you would be the only person to use it. I gave him my word, and in return he forged me a sword to kill the knight."

"So that's how my father beat him," Arthur realizes. He is a bit annoyed at the fact that Merlin had gone to the dragon for help, but he is willing to admit to himself that without it, the king would be dead.

Merlin nods. "Kilgharrah was furious when he found out that someone other than you had used it, especially since that person was Uther, the one who had enslaved him in the first place. He told me to get rid of the sword, and to put it where no human could ever find it."

"So you put it in the rock?" Arthur asks, having understood that the sword must be Excalibur.

"Not quite. I flung it into the lake. I only moved it to the rock later."

"Why?"

"I'll get to that later," Merlin dismisses.

"Fine," Arthur mutters. "What came next?"

Merlin looks away. "Kanan and his men attacked Ealdor."

"The wind was you," Arthur realizes, his eyes wide.

"Yes. Will pretended it was him because he knew he was dying anyway, and that you would kill me if you knew the truth." Arthur opens his mouth to object, but Merlin cuts him off. "Don't deny it, you didn't know me very well at that point. You would take no pleasure in it, but your betrayal from my lies would have been stronger than our friendship was at the time."

Arthur wants to object, but he knows it's true. "I'm sorry about Will," he says after a moment.

"Thanks," Merlin says, offering his friend a small smile.

"What next?" Arthur asks, knowing that his friend needs something to distract him from the memory of the loss.

"The whole deal with the unicorns, although I suppose you saved me in the end that time," Merlin acknowledges.

Arthur grins. "All you did was sit idly by and let your prince drink poison!"

"Hey! I didn't exactly _let_ you. And besides, I got Anhora to give you another chance after you failed the test of your pride," Merlin shoots back.

Arthur falters. "Still, I drank poison for you."

"Don't be so dramatic, it was only a sleeping draught," Merlin responds, rolling his eyes.

"But you didn't know that! Neither did I, for that matter."

"No, you didn't," Merlin says, his voice suddenly much quieter. "That was dumb. You shouldn't have risked your life for me."

"I'm going to take that as a thank you, because the hypocrisy is simply too overwhelming for me to take seriously," Arthur decides.

"Thank you," Merlin says with a small laugh. Then his face twists regretfully. "You're not going to like this next story."

"I can handle it," Arthur says, but silently wonders what could be worse than what he's already heard.

"Alright… Morgana tried to kill Uther for executing Gwen's father. Or at least assisted Tauren in his attempt."

"Even back then she was against us?"

"To be fair, she changed her mind at the last moment and helped Uther fight Tauren off before he could do anything," Merlin reasons.

"And I suppose you had something to do with it?" Arthur concludes.

"Tauren wasn't working alone. I killed his men," Merlin says simply.

Arthur blinks at him, surprised.

"What?" Merlin frowns, seeing the expression on his face.

"Nothing," Arthur shakes his head. "Continue your story."

Merlin's face darkens. "After that came the questing beast. It bit you, and you were going to die. Long story short, I went to the Isle of the Blessed and got Nimueh to trade my life for yours. I came home and you were healthy, so I said my goodbyes and all was right with the world. But-"

"Hang on!" Arthur interrupts furiously. "You gave your life for mine? What could possibly possess you to do something like that?"

"You're my best friend," Merlin says simply. "I wasn't going to let you die. Anyway, I went to sleep, not expecting to wake up. When I did, I was surprised, and I left my room to find my mother in the patient's quarters. She was ill. Very ill. Dying. Nimueh had traded her life for yours instead of mine, like the original deal. That wasn't entirely her fault, since she had been using the old religion, which is rather unpredictable when it comes to taking and giving lives. Still, I was angry. I planned to confront Nimueh and get her to heal my mother and take my life, but Gaius went ahead of me. She took his life instead of mine. I got angry and killed her, and once she was dead, the balance was restored, so Gaius came back to life."

Arthur stares at Merlin. "Okay, _what?_ How did you manage to kill a sorceress of the Old Religion? And how did Gaius come back to life?"

"Well, I mean, I do have a tad bit of power, so I sort of struck her with a bolt of lightning? As for Gaius, like I said, the Old Religion doesn't really care much who lives and who dies, as long as there's a balance. Since you lived, someone had to die, but it didn't really matter who. I used the Old Religion to kill someone else in the time frame in which someone needed to die, so it used her life to restore the balance. In short, Nimueh died, which meant that you, Gaius, my mother, and I could live."

Arthur nodded at this explanation, but returned to the first part of Merlin's speech. "How powerful are you that you can command the weather and choose who lives and who dies?"

"That's a bit complicated," Merlin stalls.

"I'll try to keep up," Arthur responds drily.

"Right. So I'm Emrys."

Arthur stares at him blankly. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that I'm the most powerful sorcerer to ever live," Merlin summarizes with an uncomfortable shrug.

" _What?_ "

"And I'm destined to protect the Once and Future King- that would be you- so that he can restore magic in the kingdom and unite the lands of Albion," he adds helpfully.

"Uh-huh," Arthur agrees, his face pale.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Merlin assures him dismissively. "It doesn't mean a whole lot, except that at some point you should probably lift the ban on magic. It doesn't need to be soon, though, if you don't want it to be."

"I was planning to do that anyway," Arthur responds, frowning. "Is that really all I need to do?"

"I mean, the prophecy also says that you're destined to be the greatest king Camelot has ever known, but I think you're managing that just fine on your own."

"You know I hate bootlickers," Arthur says, turning his head away to hide a slight blush.

Merlin just laughs.


End file.
